Stick Together
by alwaysshipping
Summary: Star gets separated from the others when going through the Realm of Magic to Mewni. Set between Tom and Star breaking up and their arrival in Mewni. Minor AU - only changes the events of Mama Star
1. Shakes

"See, I need to get home, and the only way home is down that well and through a big ol' magic Slip 'N Slide that makes ya lose your mind if you're in it too long.

"So I'm trying to call my daughter, my unicorn daughter, because she stays sane in the magic, and she can guide us through in one piece." Star had explained this to Oskar, and despite the complete nonsensical nature of the explanation, he had seemed to understand. What had followed was a desperate attempt to push a meat cooler and suddenly here she appeared.

"Firstborn!" Star was eager to see her creation, the unicorn that ran the Realm of Magic.

**[A/N: this is where it splits into AU]**

The magic well bubbled.

"Stay out of my realm," Firstborn stated succinctly. She began disappearing back down the well.

"Wait! Please! We need your help to get back to Mewni!" Star called after the unicorn. It seemed as if she was going to be completely ignored, but just as the top of her head went below the magic, leaving just her horn visible, Firstborn rose back out of the well.

"I will not have you damaging my realm. If you really must come through, you must be prepared to do exactly as I say, even if that means I have to remove you."

"Yes! We'll do it! We just have to get back to Mewni!" Star was getting desperate, and Marco was worried about her. Communication and transport between Earth and Mewni had been out for almost twenty-four hours, and Marco could tell Star was afraid. "Can you please take us?"

"I will take you. But only four of you can come." Star, Marco, Tom, and Janna all looked at Oskar.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

Oskar's footsteps receded up the ladder. The four turned back to Firstborn.

"I don't know if we're all going to be able to ride on her back at once..." Tom spoke up.

"I will NOT have anyone riding on my back." Declared Firstborn. "If you wish to travel through the magic, I will merely be your guide. You will have to provide your own methods of transportation."

"Hey Tom, can I travel with you?" Janna's grin was unsettling.

"What makes you think I'll be flying? Do you know how tiring that is for me? Especially when carrying someone else! I will NOT be carrying you!"

"That's what you think," Janna muttered.

"Hey Star? How _are_ we going to get through the Realm of Magic?" Marco asked.

"I'll summon Cloudy and he can take us through," Star said it so simply, that Marco almost didn't question it. But he did.

"Will he be able to take all of us?"

"He's taken three people before, and one of was my dad, who weighs as much as two people. If he can't then we'll have to try something else."

"Okay then. What other choice do we have? Let's get through this magic and go save Mewni."

Cloudy was struggling to carry them all. Star hadn't managed to notice it through her determination to get to Mewni. The others had, however, and were beginning to worry that they weren't going to be able to make it.

"Um, Star?" Marco began to say.

"What is it, Marco? Can't you see I'm trying to get us to Mewni?" Star snapped at them.

_Oh no_, Marco thought. Star really was worried. Marco didn't take her harsh tone to heart - he knew she didn't mean it - but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. "How about we put Cloudy down and let him rest. He's working pretty hard." They had been following Firstborn for about one Earth hour, so who knows how long it had been in the Realm of Magic. It was a miracle they had retained their memories so far - far longer than anyone else ever had.

"No! We have to get to Mewni as quickly as possible. We can't afford to stop now or at all. Besides, if we do, we might begin to lose our minds. It's all I can do to keep us flying up this high so that we're as far away from the magic's scenery." Star was more determined than Marco had ever seen her. It must've really been tearing her apart, knowing something was wrong on Mewni but not knowing _what_. It was at that moment that Cloudy began to shake far more violently than before. Star still didn't seem to notice, but everyone else did.

"Uh, Star?" Marco's distress was evident as his voice shook. His worry was echoed by Tom and Janna. Star apparently hadn't heard them though, because, after a moment, Cloudy's form began to disappear. It flickered for a few seconds, and then…

Marco awoke to be covered in a golden liquid. _Ugh, magic_. He looked around. He must have dropped from...dropped from...from where? What was he doing here? Where were the others? Star, and...Tim? Jane? _Oh no_. His memories were going. Marco stood up. He was going to have to figure out what was happening. Then he noticed two forms lying on the ground not far away. He made his way over. It was his friends! If only he could remember their names, he could wake them up. Something felt wrong though. _Stop thinking like that, this is a nice place!_ He shook the two sleeping people. _Wait, why am I shaking them?_ The boy regained his composure. Whoever these two people were, they seemed happy sleeping in the golden liquid. As he started to wander off though, something tweaked his quickly receding memories. He had looked up at the sky and seen a number of- STAR! Marco ran back to Tom and Janna.

"TOM! JANNA! WAKE UP!" Marco shook them hard. They had to get up. They needed to find Star! Slowly, groggily, they sat up.

"Where am I?" they said in unison. It was followed by a startled, "who are you?"

"I'm Marco Diaz. You're Tom Lucitor and Janna Ordonia. You're my friends! Our other friend, Star Butterfly, has gone missing! You guys need to get up and come with me, otherwise, we'll lose her!"

Marco had been running for what felt like days. He was reminded of his time in Heckapoo's dimension, on a quest for scissors, except this was much less fun and much more worrisome. He was afraid that something had happened to Star. As much as it seemed like it, the Realm of Magic was not a safe place. He needed to get to Star before she lost her mind, or before the magic turned on her like he was afraid it would. Tom and Janna had called upon Firstborn to return them to Mewni in whatever way was possible, and she had zapped them with her horn. He hoped they had ended up somewhere safe. They had told him to come with them, that they could find her with the help of Eclipsa, using the Seeing Eye Spell or something along those lines. But Marco couldn't do that. He knew that something was wrong, he could feel it in his guts, and he knew he had to find her. After all, he was her best friend. So he had run. Somehow he knew which direction to go. He didn't know how far away she was, or what situation she was in, but that gut-wrenching feeling he was having was directing him to where he knew he would find Star.

He had failed. He was certain of it. Marco had been looking for Star for what must have been hours. The feeling in his gut still hadn't gone away, but he was starting to think it might not have been what he had initially thought. However, he knew he couldn't give up. He had spent 16 years fighting against Heckapoo in his trial to earn his scissors. This was far more important than that. He would keep searching for the rest of his life if it meant keeping Star safe. Marco sat down. He needed to focus. Searching his feelings, he thought about where Star was. Marco thought about everything Star had done for him, everything that had brought them closer, as best friends, and shaping the way he felt about her. The way she had come to save him when he'd been kidnapped by Toffee; how she had helped him get together with Jackie, because he hadn't known what he _really_ wanted at the time; getting him that Quest Buy gift card, even though it had tried to kill him; making him her squire; saving him from being turned into a painting; making his knight's cape for him. She had done so much. He couldn't let her down now.


	2. Shudders

The girl opened her eyes.

"WOAH! It's so pretty! Where am I?" Her thoughts were muddled. She wondered what she was doing in this fabulous place. Everything was golden, and the girl found herself drawn to it. However, she didn't know which way to go - there was so much gold in every direction!

His knees had been pressed so hard into his chest they were leaving marks. Marco was distraught. He had lost his best friend in the Realm of Magic and it was all his fault. If only he'd told Star earlier that Cloudy was struggling, or he'd discouraged her from even going through the magic, then she wouldn't be missing. His chest was wracked with grief. If he never got to see her again, he would lose his mind. She was his best friend, his partner in crime, his second half. She made him happy when he was down and always knew how to help. His feelings hadn't gone away, and after Tom broke up with her, had become even stronger. And now she was gone. He didn't know if she felt the same way he did, but now he would never know. He wouldn't even get to tell her how _he_ felt. But that wasn't what was important. He had failed Star because now she couldn't get to Mewni to help with whatever was going wrong. Thus, by extension, he had failed Mewni. And that wasn't something he could quite handle. Failing his best friend was hard enough. Failing her by failing her kingdom, her _home_, was far worse.

Marco was wracked with pain. He no longer knew what to do. Without a wand of his own, there was no way he could perform magic, was there? What was it Star had been told to do by Glossaryck? Dig deep? No! Dip down! Marco delved deep into his mind and heart. Gathering all the pain he had felt: his pent up emotions towards Star, his stress of losing her every time they go on adventures, his current anxiety about actually having lost her, he summoned the All-Seeing Eye. He knew it was a stretch - a magicless human calling upon a difficult spell without a wang. But he would do anything for Star. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see a giant ring of purple fire. _Yes!_ Now just to look for Star. He focused on the image of her that was permanently burned into his mind. That picture of his beautiful best friend, with her infectious smile, and her quirky but adorable outfits. Everything about her was perfect to Marco, so that's how he envisioned it. The spell scrolled for a minute or two, but suddenly it seemed like it was zooming in on something. Its narrow focus gave Marco a headache, but when it finally stopped moving, the ache disappeared. Replacing it was a sharp pain in his heart. Because there, in the middle of the ring, was a memory-less Star.

He had tried calling her name, then shouting it, and then even tried reaching through the eye. None of it had worked, and the eye had shut after he'd tried to reach out to her. Speaking to her had worked last time, but he believed she was too far gone to be saved through the spell. He would have to go to her. The pain in his heart hadn't subsided. Recalling the feeling he had had in his gut, he believed this too was an anchor. It was a line connected to Star, and he would have to follow it to find her.

His race against his heart took him roughly ten minutes. In that time he managed to dream up several different ways his arrival could go, and like a Marco, he had imagined them all ending badly. Star couldn't forget her life, couldn't forget _him_. Could she? He had to hope that she would remember once he found her. The pain in his chest hadn't subsided, and he knew he was going in the right direction. His suffering would have to continue, because it paled in comparison to what it might become.

Frolicking in the shimmering expanse had quickly become boring for the blonde girl, and she had tried to find something else to do. She had quickly found herself in the middle of an arrangement of rocks forming somewhat of a circle. Just as she was climbing up on top of one of the rocks to begin jumping between them, she had spotted something moving in the distance. A small figure was making its way towards her, gradually getting larger. _Ooh fun! Something to play with!_ The figure was almost upon the circle of rocks now, and she could see that it was some sort of creature. Some sort of creature with _far too many legs!_ She scooched up as far as she could to the top of the rock she was sitting on. That thing gave her the creeps. _Maybe if I hide up here it won't notice me_.

The creature whinnied and shook its head. It trotted to the edge of the rock formation and began circling it. _At least it's going the far way._ It had begun its circling in a way that took it away from the girl. The creature made its way further and further around the circle. Upon reaching the far edge, it came to a halt. _Weird, I wonder what i-_ she didn't get to finish that thought because the creature's head jerked around, its eyes meeting her own. She shrieked and attempted to run, forgetting that she was on top of a rock. Splashing face down in the glistening liquid, its sparkling didn't match the terror in her heart. She moved to stand when she felt something touch her shoulder. It was a smaller version of the multi-legged creature. Her arms windmilled as she stumbled away from this mini-creature. Looking around, she could see that there wasn't just one. She was surrounded by five or six of the little things. Once again she shrieked.

The foot came flying out of nowhere. Hearing a yell, the girl had seen movement in the corner of her eye and had shirked away from what she believed to be an attack. However, despite the fact that it was an attack, she had misjudged what its target was. The multi-legged creature was knocked onto its side, where it struggled, kicking its many legs all over the place. She screamed. _TOO MANY LEGS!_ A cute boy in a red hoodie had been revealed to be the one who had done the kicking when he appeared from behind the falling form of the creature. He had quickly gone on to kick and punch the smaller creatures that had launched themselves at him. Once he had dispatched all of them with relative ease, he ran towards her. Grabbing her hand, he said only two words:

"Let's go!"

Marco pulled Star by the hand. She was following him blindly, letting him lead her completely. In fact, if he hadn't been holding her hand, he'd have had to check she was still there, she was putting up such little resistance. He didn't stop running until he was certain he had left the unicorns far behind. He staggered to a halt, but was almost immediately knocked over when Star ran into him. Her body pressed against his, with her still not putting up any resistance. Marco thought that seemed strange. Usually Star was so energetic; even when she had just been in a close call situation like the one they'd just escaped she would be talking her emotions out in a torrent of words. But now she was silent. Not only was she not moving on her own, she wasn't talking, and instead just started blankly at Marco. "Star! Are you alright?" Marco broke the silence. He needed to make sure she was okay. She didn't respond. Finally moving, all she did was look over her shoulder at where they'd come from. Presumably noticing that the unicorns were no longer in sight, Star turned and began wandering off. "Star! Wait! Where are you going?" Marco was worried. Star was acting strange. She turned her head back to him.

"Were you talking to me?" Star's voice was flat as she spoke up. _Oh no._ Marco was seriously concerned. Something had evidently happened to Star. He knew she had lost her memories, but he had hoped that upon seeing him something would spark in her mind and she would remember. But it hadn't. Marco dropped. He hadn't felt this way since he had first confessed his feelings to Star in that photo booth. Before that, he'd felt it only once, when Star left for Mewni during his party. Both times he had been crippled by the feeling that his friendship with Star was done and ruined. He curled into a ball, holding his head between his knees as he sat in the mesmerising liquid. This was the same. He had failed. Star was lost to the Realm of Magic, and Marco, her squire - no, her knight! - had failed to save her in her time of need. His body was wracked with his sobbing. No. He was wrong. This was nothing he had ever felt before. He could live with Star not seeing him as long as she knew who he was. However, he couldn't bear to imagine a life where Star didn't know him - where he didn't know Star. Tears stung his tightly shut eyes as his anguish filled the seemingly peaceful realm.

He didn't know how long he sat there. All he knew was that at some point, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Marco looked up, surprised. As he had suspected, it was the only other person here with him in the Realm of Magic. Star shushed him like a mother would a crying baby. Somehow, it comforted Marco to know she was looking after him.

"Hey." That one word, though from someone who seemingly didn't know him, sounded strangely full of emotion.

"Hey."

"I don't know what's got you so down, but I'm sure that whatever it is will sort itself out. If you want, you can talk to me. I'll listen to whatever you have to say." And so Marco told her. He told her everything that had been on his mind, beginning with who she was and ending with how they ended up here. He told her their whole story together. He told her about how he had failed her and how it wasn't the first time. He told her about his mess ups with her in the past and how all he wanted was for her to be happy. All he left out was how he felt. His true emotions, nay, feelings towards her remained his alone. It wasn't his place to tell her that, not right now.

"That's quite the story Marco Diaz. But it's not quite how I remember it."

"But that's the problem! You don't remember, and I made it worse by chasing you he-" He wasn't able to finish his thought because he was suddenly crushed by one of the most passionate hugs he had ever felt.

"Of course I remember Marco. I can't believe I would ever forget you and I'm so sorry." Star was the one crying now, her tears soaking into the fabric of Marco's hoodie. They sat like that, enjoying one another's embrace. It was warm in the arms of their best friend. Star eventually released Marco and moved back. Sitting on her knees, she studied his face. "Marco, when did you get those marks?"

"What marks?"

"Those moons. On your cheeks. They're like my hearts."

"What? I have moons on my cheeks? Oh my God! What is happening?" Marco was beginning to lose it again. So much had happened for him and Star felt her heart lurch at the thought of him going through such emotional strain just for her.

"Calm down Marco, it's okay. Maybe we're more connected than we know. Did you use any magic?"

"Yeah, I summoned the All-Seeing Eye."

"How?"

"I just dipped down. Like Glossaryck told you." Star crushed Marco in a hug again.

"I'm so proud of you."

This time it was Marco who pulled away. Leaving barely a foot between them, Marco held Star's shoulders as he stared into her eyes. They were so pretty.

That mole on his cheek was so cute. Her best friend was so much more. The two leant closer, closing the gap between them. A flash of blue light came from nowhere. The last thing Star heard before she lost consciousness were three simple words. But they carried so much impact.

Marco came to in the ruins of Butterfly Castle. He couldn't remember what had happened in the Realm of Magic, but he guessed it must have been good, because here they were in Mewni, just where they wanted to be.


End file.
